Chapter 46: Is She Worthy?

Cecilia would never forget that afternoon.

The young girl hummed an ethereal ballad, leading her through the streets and alleys. Then, she leaped into the wind to catch the white dome hat that was about to be blown away.

She blossomed in the wind, like a flower in full bloom.

She was breathtakingly beautiful.

And so beautiful that… she was gone in an instant.

Later, Cecilia could no longer remember exactly how Lu Mo had returned the hat to her or how she had brought her back.

“What’s wrong, Cecilia? You’ve been distracted for a while now.”

“H-Have I?”

The sun was setting.

On the way back, the two chatted idly.

“You look even more like a dummy like this. I feel like if I sold you right now, you might even happily help me count the money.”

Looking at the dazed Cecilia, Lu Mo couldn’t help but tease her.

Cecilia didn’t answer; she only gave a silly smile.

“Aren’t you afraid?” Seeing that she couldn’t scare Cecilia, Lu Mo couldn’t help but ask.

“Not at all.” Cecilia narrowed her eyes. “Because the one accompanying me is Lady Lu Mo.”

She smiled so brightly and so defenselessly, as if she completely trusted the girl in front of her.

“Wah—”

But in the next second, Cecilia let out a soft cry of pain.

Lu Mo had stopped her pace and suddenly flicked Cecilia’s small forehead.

“If you’re like this, I’m afraid I really might do it one day.”

Rubbing her forehead, Cecilia looked up and saw Lu Mo looking at her with a bit of a headache, smiling somewhat helplessly.

“So, you have to work hard to become smart. Work hard to become yourself,” Lu Mo added.

“… Yes.” Not long after, Cecilia also nodded with a smile.

Lu Mo didn’t know how much she actually understood.

The two of them chased the sun, hand in hand.

Finally, they managed to sneak back home before dark.

The two continued to meet at the wall every day, playing together and keeping each other company.

Ever since the day they returned from the market, Cecilia always felt as if some strange emotions were sprouting in the depths of her heart, growing bit by bit.

She often dreamed of the two of them going to the market again.

In her dreams, Lu Mo hummed the same tune. She watched Lu Mo’s back, her heart filled with joy.

Sometimes, while playing by the wall, she would look at Lu Mo’s back and suddenly remember that flower blooming in the wind.

What was this emotion?

Cecilia didn’t understand.

So, she thought seriously for a long time.

One day, she suddenly felt that she understood everything.

It was because of that song, “Scarborough Fair”!

It must be because she liked that song too much, so she always recalled the day they went to the market!

The reason she always thought of Lu Mo was because Lu Mo was the only one who could sing that song!

“Lady Lu Mo, I want to learn how to sing!”

One day, she suddenly gripped her skirt with both hands and spoke to Lu Mo with a serious face.

“Sure.” Lu Mo didn’t refuse and answered with a smile.

Then, Lu Mo regretted it.

She really wasn’t a good teacher.

She couldn’t teach Cecilia the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, and it was hard to explain to Cecilia what phonetic symbols were.

So, she taught very slowly.

Cecilia learned just as slowly.

Watching Cecilia struggle to memorize words, Lu Mo sometimes felt a sudden urge to teach her another song where the lyrics were just “boom boom boom boom boom.”

***

After seeing Cecilia off, Lu Mo sat alone under the tree.

‘It looks like the time needed to complete the tasks for the second Simulated Reincarnation will be much more than the first.’

Looking at the task panel, Lu Mo murmured to herself.

‘I’ve stayed for so long, I should head back for a bit.’

Stretching, Lu Mo clicked the exit button.

Soon, a sense of distortion hit her, and her consciousness was rapidly pulled back into reality.

“Ugh…”

The memories of the Caris Manor were compressed, flooding into Lu Mo’s mind in an instant.

Although she had experienced similar things several times, she still felt a bit uncomfortable.

The start of the second Simulated Reincarnation was nowhere near as dangerous as the first.

It would still be a long time before she had to truly face the Demon Race.

Therefore, Lu Mo had nothing to worry about for the time being.

After washing up, she lay back on her bed.

She couldn’t go back to the simulation anyway, so she might as well sleep.

She still had to run to several places in the coming days; there was a mountain of work to handle.

With those thoughts, she soon fell asleep.

Of course, at this moment, there were people in the academy who couldn’t sleep.

***

*Thud, thud, thud—*

Elia was still banging her head against the wall.

“Aaaah! I’m so angry! I’m so angry!!!”

“Where on earth did that Saintess come from?”

“She actually licked Sister Lu Mo’s hand?”

“Would a proper Saintess ever do such a thing?”

“Is she… worthy of doing such a thing?”

Elia had a look of utter resentment. She lacked the coldness and indifference of an Empress, looking completely like a defeated heroine at this moment.

“No, Elia, calm down…”

Soon, she began talking to herself again, trying to regain her composure.

‘That’s just an ordinary Saintess.’

‘Elia, you are the Empress of Lindong.’

‘Why should an Empress be so pathetic in front of an ordinary girl?’

In an instant, the temperature of the surrounding air plummeted. Faint frost appeared, seemingly about to freeze the space itself.

Elia slowly opened her eyes, and the majesty of the Empress surfaced once more.

“Besides, the Saintess coming to Cangyu Academy is nothing more than participating in the opening ceremony. Once the ceremony is over, she will naturally leave.”

“Of course, if she truly has ill intentions toward Sister Lu Mo—”

At this point, Elia’s eyes suddenly turned sharp.

As her killing intent manifested, the space around her actually began to distort.

When that time came, she would absolutely not hold back.

Even the Pope wouldn’t be able to stop her!

***

“What method should I use to get close to Lady Lu Mo tomorrow?”

Cecilia stared blankly at the ceiling, thinking for a long time.

She was supposed to be sleeping, but she suddenly thought of this question before bed.

Then, she forgot to sleep.

She was the person closest to God in the entire Holy Sanctuary.

But at this moment, she had a dazed expression, trying her best to think through a question that seemed simple to anyone else.

She hadn’t shown such an expression in many years.

‘Should I secretly follow Lady Lu Mo?’

‘What if Lady Lu Mo accidentally trips on flat ground again, right?’

After all, Lady Lu Mo was a dummy now.

She had to protect her well this time.

‘However…’

Actually, there was one more thing Cecilia was concerned about.

That was the moment she had helped Lu Mo clean her wound; she had clearly sensed a fleeting killing intent.

And when she had spread her perception to find the source, the owner of that killing intent had disappeared into the crowd.

‘Whose was it?’

‘Was it aimed at me, or… at Lady Lu Mo?’

If it was aimed at her, it didn’t matter.

But if the other party really dared to lay a hand on Lady Lu Mo—